Buckle



(NoModeL) I C. C. SHELBY. BUCKLE,

No. 471,439. Patented Mar. 22, 1892.

In? eiziar UNITED STATES PATENT Curios.

CHRISTOPHER C. SHELBY, CF PATERSON, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO JUSTUS A. TRAUT, -.OF NEW BRITAIN, CONNECTICUT.

BUCKLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 471,439, dated March 22, 1892.

Application filed June 23, 189 1. Serial No. 397,232. (No inodel.) I

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHRISTOPHER O. SHELBY, of Paterson, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey, have invented new and useful Improvement inBuckles and Clasps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, and to the letters of reference marked thereon.

This invention relates to improvements in that class of devices employed to connect two co-operating portions of a garment-supporter or the supporter and garment itself, as the case may be, the object being to provide a simple and cheap device which will hold with a firm grip the article with which it is en gaged. To which ends the invention consists in certain novel details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts, all as will now be described, and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of a buckle or clasp constructed in accordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation with the locking-lever open in dotted lines. Figs. 3 and 4 are views of the device as adapted particularly for suspender-buckles. Figs. 5 and 6 are views of the device adapted to be locked by a button, hook, or other engaging member on the Suspender-end or co-operating member.

Like letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

A indicates the buckle-frame proper, by which is meant the portion through which the web passes or with which the web or garment is brought into engagement. This portion of the frame is preferably rectangular and has at one side an extension or loop B,by which it is attached to the supporter or suspender, the form of which loop is immaterial and may be enlarged at the end, as shown in Figs. 1, 4, and 6, or into a hook, as in Fig. 3, or left substantially straight, as in Fig. 5.

T0 the side of the buckle-frame proper next the loop is pivoted the locking-lever O, having the two forwardly-extending holding ends provided with hooks c c, which curve over the top of the buckle-frame, as in Figs.

1, 2, and 6, or over a cross-piece D, (which for the purposes of this invention will be understood as forming a part of the buckle-frame proper, and the term buckle-frame of sufficient breadth to cover it,) as in Figs. 3, 4, and 5. The rear or lower end of the lookinglever is extended and is adapted to be locked to the loop on the buckle-frame, to which the supporter or suspender is attached.

In Figs. 5 and 6 the loop on the lockinglever and the loop on the buckle-frame are formed of substantially the same shape and are adapted to be locked together by the cooperating member, as the hook on the suspender-end, or a button on the garment, as shown, for instance, in dotted lines, Fig. 5. When desired, however, and in the preferred construction, either or both the buckle-frame and locking-lever are formed of spring or elastic wire, and the loop on the buckle-frame is provided with an enlargement E, formed by spreading the wires at a point between the frame proper and the end of the loop, and the loop on the locking-lever is adapted to spring past this enlargement, as shown clearlyin Figs. 1 and 2, whereby it is held firmly in locked position after having been once forced to its seat. The enlargement IE, it will be noted, tapers at each side, enabling the lever to be easily thrown into locked or unlocked position when grasped by the outer end, and the necessary spring may be secured by deflecting the wires forming the enlargement or the loop on the locking-lever, or both, as will be readily understood; but to prevent the undue spreading of the holding ends of the lockinglever it is desirable that they be united in some instances where greater rigidity is required, as shown, for instance, in Figs. 1, 2, and 4, where a cross-piece unites said ends to form a solid structure. The locking-lever, as before stated, is formed of wire, and the pivotal connection with the frame is preferably made by giving the wire forming the lever a turn around the frame, as shown, on each side of the buckle-frame loop.

When the device is used as a clasp, for which purpose it should be small, as in Figs. 1 and 2, the supporter is secured to the loop and the garment is placed between the end of the locking-lever and frame, as shown in dotted lines in said figures, the hook ends pressing into the fabric just above the bar of the frame. \Vhen used as a snspender-buckle, the Web is passed through the buckle-frame over either the top or center cross-bars, the hook ends in every instance pressing into the fabric at a point but slightly removed from the cross-bar, thus securing the fabric by bending the same sharply around the crossbar, as Well as by means of the-hook ends.

Having thus described my invention, What I claim as new is 1. In a device of the character specified, the combination, with the frame proper hav ing the loop at one side, of the locking-lever pivotally connected to the frame on the side next to said loop and having the ends projecting into the frame proper and formed into hooks bending around a cross-piece of the frame, and the loop forming the outer end of the lever lying in proximity to the loop on the frame, but on the side of the frame opposite to that on which the holding-points are located, substantially as described.

2. In a buckle, the combination, with the wire frame having the loop for the attachment of the cooperating member bent out at one side with the intermediate enlargement,

of the locking-lever pivotally connected to the frame on each side of the loop and the loop on the locking-lever cooperating with the e11- largement on the buckleframe loop, substantially as described.

In a buckle, the combination, with the wire frame having the loop for the attachment of the cooperating member bent out at one side with the intermediate enlargement, of the Wire locking-lever bent around the frame on each side of the loop and having its holding ends projecting into the buckleframe, and a loop co-operating with the enlargement on the frame-loop to hold the lever locked, and the cross-piece uniting the ends of the lever, substantially as described.

4. In a buckle, the combination, with the wire frame bent up with the loop at one side, of the locking-lever pivotally connected to the frame and having the ends bent into hooks and projecting on one side, and the loop projecting on the opposite side of the frame, substantially as described.

CHRISTOPHER O. SHELBY.

Witnesses:

JAMES G. BLAUVEL'I, THOMAS W. RANDALL. 

